Fire and dust proof cover for record-books.



W. (3-. AKANS.

FIRE AND DUST PROOF COVER FOR RECORD BOOKS.

' APPLICATION FILED JULY 22.1916.

1,293,659} Yatentcd Feb. 11, 1919.

5/ :1 r 2 6 141mm oz l/WAZM M A An oni.

WALTER. CARL AKANS, on BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, AssIeNoR or ONE-HALF TO .I.A. RYAN, or BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

FIRE AND DUST PROOF COVER FOR RECORD-BOOKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

Continuation of application Serial No. 12,053, filed March 4, 1915. Thisapplication filed July 22, 1916. Serial No. 110,666.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER C. AKANS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire andDust Proof Covers for Record- Books, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention has for its object to provide a fire and dust proof coverfor record books and in its preferred embodiment contemplates theconstruction of the cover from sheet metal which is shaped to completelyinclose the leaves of the book when in closed position and which ispreferably lined with asbestos to increase its heat resisting capacity.

My present invention is a continuation of my application filed on March4th, 1915, Serial No. 12,053, issued as Patent No. 1,204,387, in whichis more particularly described and claimed the manner in which theleaves of the completed book are permanently locked in a loose leafbinding and mounted on flexible tables which are controlled by themovements of the book covers so as to shift the book in its cover topresent the leaves in the most convenient form. for

use.

One distinctive feature of my present in- Vention is the hinging of thecover sections at the front of the book cover 2'. a, on the oppositeside from the back bone which is disposed at the free edges of the coversections. These cover sections are formed of pressed sheet metal, eachcover having its marginal edges upturned to form flanges adapted to meetor lap, thus providing a protecting rim for the edges of the book. Byhinging the cover sections along the center of the rim opposite the backbone I reduce the depth of the book receiving pockets in each cover andin this manner simplify the raising of the book on its flexing tablesinto position for use.

My invention also comprlses the novel details of construction andarrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiment only arehereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawmgswhich form a part of this specification, and in which V Figure 1presents a metal bound record book with the cover closed.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical cross section through Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing the record book opened up with thetables presentlng the leaves in position for use.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

In the embodiment illustrated, the cover is formed, preferably, of threemetallic sections, namely, a top cover plate 1, a bottom cover plate 2,and a back bone 3. The top cover plate 1 is provided on all four sideswith a downturned rim flange 4, preferably formed integral with thecover plate and Jomed thereto by a rounded bead 5 which surrounds allbut the edge of the cover adj acent to the back bone 3 where the plateis shaped to form an ogee 6. The portion of the rim flange 4 that joinsthe ogee is designated 4 and it will be noted that it is bent in at anacute angle to a vertical plane, see Fig. 2. The bottom cover plate isprovided with an upturned rim flange 7 which is similar to 4 aroundthree sides of the cover plate having the bead 5. Along its back edge itis also provided with the ogee 6 but instead of having the rim flangeupturned here, the cover plate is made wider than and extends beyond thetop cover 1, this extension comprising a curved portion 8 and at theouter edge thereof an upturned flange 9 to which the back bone 3 isattached by rivets 10. This back bone is also formed of a metallic platehaving its upper and lower corner edges rounded at 11 and having itsside edges 12 and 13 curved over. Its curved edge 12 (Fig. 2) laps overthe curved portion 8 of the bottom cover extension and its curved edge13 comes flush with the ogee 6 of the top cover when the cover isclosed. Each of the rim flanges 4 and 7, along what would be the frontedges of the cover plates, 2'. a, the edges opposite the back bone, areprovided with out-turned hinge loops 14 which are interleaved andconnected by a hinge pin 15. The rim flanges 4 at their lower ends arebent in at 16 to form a lap joint with the rim flanges 7 and the flange4 of the top cover is set at such an angle that as this cover is raisedabout the hinge pin 15 as a center it will clear the edge 13 of the backbone. The inner surface of both cover plates and the back bone are linedwith asbestos 17.

The leaves 18 are preferably bound by any suitable loose leaf bindingmeans, such as 19, to a movable backing 20, which backing is free offixed connection in the cover. What I term a table leaf 21 is hinged at22 to the top cover plate 1 near its free edge and is connected by ahinge 28 to the loose leaf backing 20. A table leaf 24, on one side, ishinged at 25 to the other side of the loose leaf backing 20 and at itsother side the leaf 24: is connected by a hinge 241 to a hinge plate 26which by means of a hinge27 is connected to the back cover 2 near itsfree edge. This hinge plate 26 is a long narrow plate extending from theupper to the lower edges of the book adjacent to the back bone and hasdown turned flanges 28 projecting below the hinge 24 and of suflicientlength to prevent that hinge moving to a dead center when the cover isin closed position, see Fig. 2. The cover plates 1 and 2 are providedwith raised beads 29 which support the book and which protect a centerplate 80 having thereon suitable label indicia descriptive of the book.The back bone is provided with a series of raised shoulders 31 whichprotect the lettering on the back of the book.

In operation, when the book leaves have been typed or printed and boundin the loose leaf binding, they are ready to be mounted in theprotecting cover. The loose leaf binding at 20 is connected by thehinges 23 and 25 to the leaf tables 21 and 24, as will be seen in Fig.3, the back 20 of the bound book at the time resting upon or over therim flanges 4 and 7 above their hinge 14. To close the book, either thecover 1 or 2 may be moved, or both may be moved together, but forillustrative purposes the top cover 1, in Fig. 3, will be raised andswung over to its closed position. As this cover swings in closing aboutthe hinge 15 the table leaf 21 will be swung up with it and as this willhinge pivot about the center 28 it will draw the latter up and over,rocking the back 20 on the flange 7 until the latter will settle downinto the rim of the back cover 2, see Fig. 2. In doing this the leaftable 24: and hinge plate 26 will swing downwardly and away from theback bone until they assume the position shown in Fig. 2. When thecovers are closed their lapping rim flanges 1 and 7 form with the backbone a complete box closure for the leaves and the closed book in itscover has the ordinary appearance of a record book, its hinge let beinginvisible when the record book is in the files. As the book is openedout, a reverse movement of the table leaf 21 lifts the back of the boundleaves up over the rim flange 7, which movement necessitates the bendingof the hinge 2 1 to permit the hinge 25 to follow its arcuate travel andassume the position shown in Fig. '3.

In my Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to, the cover plates arehinged at the back bone and the same general arrangement of the leaftables is shown except that, as the rim flange in that construction isthe full depth of the book and is carried by only one of the coverplates, it is necessary to design the parts to lift the bound leaves thefull height of the rim. By my present arrangement it is only necessaryto lift the bound leaves half the height of the rim, which result isobtained by disposing part of the rim flange on each cover and hingingthe flanges along the center line of the rim, it being preferable toavoid a hinging in the back bone for obvious reasons.

No claim is made in this case to the loose leaf binder for the leavesnor to the hinged table supports therefor, except in so far as thelatter have been changed from the disclosure in my Letters Patentaforesaid to adapt them for use with the type of cover which forms theprincipal subject matter of this case.

One important field of usefulness of my present invention is inrecovering record books, the original covers of which have been worn ortorn away. leaves of the record book can be connected to the tablesupports in the manner described, or, if desired, the leaf tables can beremoved and the leaves housed in the cover. The cover also protects theleaves from moisture and reduces the damage to their ex osed edges byair, dust or dampness. IV oreover, by providing each cover with a raisedflange, the leaves will rest in and be protected by the flanges fromdamage while the book is in use.

7 Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a metal binding for books, front and back covers having edgeflanges hingedly connected substantially midway between said covers, aleaf binder free of rigid attachment to the covers and disposed adjacentto said hinged flanges, and hinged members extending from the binder andconnected to both covers near their free edges to raise the binder tothe hinge level when the covers are fully open.

2. In a metal binding for books, front and back covers having edgeflanges hingedly connected substantially midway between said covers, aleaf binder adjacent to said hinged flanges, a connection from near thefree edge of one cover to one side of said binder, and a folding memberconnecting the other side of said binder to the other cover.

In such cases the bound u i 3. A metal binding for books comprisingcover plates, a leaf inclosing rim carried in part by each cover plateand forming With the cover plates when closed a fire proof inclosure forthe bound leaves, hinge means to connect said cover plate rims, a leafbindin means loosely connected by hinged leaf ta les only to the freeedges of said cover plates and being free to be lifted thereby from therim inclosure of the under cover plate, substantially as described.

4. A book comprising front and back covers, bound leaves, a rimprotector for the exposed marginal edges of the leaves formed by flangeson each of said covers, hinges connecting said flanges at the back ofthe book, tables, means to secure the bound leaves betWeen the near endsof said tables, means to loosely connect the remote ends of said tablesto the front and back covers near their free edges, and a member havingthe appearance of a back bone rigidly mounted on the free side edge ofone of said covers.

5. A cover for bound leaves, comprising front and back covers, anelement having the appearance of a back bone attached to one cover edgeadjacent to the free edges of the bound leaves, and hinged flanges whichconnect the covers adjacent to the bound edges of the leaves and whichbreak substantially half Way between the covers.

6. A metallic cover for books comprising front and back covers formed bymetal plates having upturned rim flanges, an element having theappearance of a back bone connected to the flange of one plate at oneside thereof and a hinge on the flange on the other side of said plate,said hinge being adapted to connect the front and back covers on thesides thereof opposite the back bone.

7 A metallic cover for books comprising a front cover plate having anintegral upturned marginal flange, a back cover plate having a similarmarginal flange, a hinge connecting said flanges on one side of thecover plates, and an element having the appearance of a back bonerigidly attached to one of the cover plates along its free side andadapted to overlap the flange on the corresponding side of the otherplate.

8. A metallic cover for books formed of two substantially similarpressed metal boxlike members, a hinge connecting said members along oneside edge, a leaf binder having a plate directly hinged to one of saidmembers and an articulated plate hingedly connected to the other of saidmembers, and means to prevent the sections of the articulated plateassuming a dead center position.

9. A metallic binding for books formed of a box-like body divided intohorizontal half sections, a hinge connecting the adjacent edges of thesections along one side and an element having the appearance of a backbone attached to the other side of one of said sections and adapted tolap the corresponding side of the other section, and an asbestos liningin said box-like body and back bone, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WALTER CARL AKANS. Witness:

NOMIE WELSH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

eshington, D. 0.

